In the standardized testing field, large-scale standardized testing has long depended upon the administration of multiple-choice tests by using paper-and-pencil, which can be scored efficiently and objectively by modern scanning technology. The recent availability of a computer based testing system has substantially automated the entire process of standardized testing. A central processing facility provides the software development to support the computer based testing system and post processing activities. A test program may be developed, produced, and packaged at the central processing facility. The computer based test is then transferred to one or more test centers. Each test center has at least one computer workstation on which the computer based test can be delivered to an examinee. After an examinee has taken the test, the examinee responses and other information recorded during the testing session may be transferred to the central processing facility for post processing, i.e., for scoring and statistical and analytical studies used in the development of new tests, or they may be scored at the test center. However, such standardized tests have the disadvantage that they depend on multiple choice type problems that may not adequately represent the tasks which examinees may encounter in academic and work settings or may not adequately test the skills sought to be assessed.
In the testing of English composition skills, large-scale standardized testing has depended on both multiple choice and "free-response" items. A free-response writing examination is one in which the examinee provides a written response to an open-ended question, which is then graded individually by humans. The grading is expensive because each response is typically scored by at least two people, usually experienced English teachers. Moreover, multiple choice questions used to test composition skills employ individual sentences and brief paragraphs. This technique has been considered inadequate by some English teaching professionals because it is an "indirect" approach to writing skill assessment.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a computer based system that assesses writing skill without the use of human graders or multiple-choice questions. The system must be able to administer the test and automatically evaluate and score the examinee's responses. The present invention has been designed to meet these needs in the art.